Americans continue to spend heavily on the side of freedom, with data suggesting that over-the-counter gun sales passed the 1 million mark for the 49th month in a row.
Last month was the fifth-highest August on record in terms of federal background checks for gun transfers since the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System was established 25 years ago.
The unadjusted figures of 2,047,515 checks conducted through NICS last month, while a 16.4 percent drop from the unadjusted FBI NICS figure of 2,450,616 in August 2022, is still higher than those typically seen prior to the Covid/BLM riot-era buying spike of 2020.
The above numbers are for the overall checks, including those done by states for reasons such as clearing concealed carry permit applications. The National Shooting Sports Foundation adjusts these to produce a figure that more closely reflects likely retail gun sales.
While the NSSF-adjusted figure of 1,117,824 checks for last month, when stacked against August 2022's 1,286,816 checks, is a notable 13 percent nosedive in estimated sales, industry insiders point to the bigger picture that they remained north of the million checks-per-month baseline that was crossed in June 2019.
"August’s NSSF-Adjusted NICS figure of over 1.1 million shows us, once again, that the desire for lawful firearm ownership is far from over. Americans, literally by the millions, are investing in exercising their Second Amendment rights," Mark Oliva, public affairs officer with the NSSF, told Guns.com via email. "This has happened every month for more than four years continuously.
"While the Biden administration proposes rules to infringe on fundamental American rights and certain governors, attorneys general and district attorneys general and district attorneys refuse to lock up criminals that prey on communities without consequence, Americans are sending a clear and unequivocal message that their personal safety, and the free exercise of their rights, is non-negotiable," said Oliva.
The true number of guns sold nationwide is higher, as it does not encompass person-to-person gun sales not made through FFLs, a practice that is legal in 36 states.
Neither does it count privately made firearms, a cherished American pastime that predates the Constitution.
It should further be noted that NICS numbers do not include multiple firearms sold on a single 4473 or sales in cases where a carry permit is used as an alternative to the background check requirements of the 1994 Brady Law, which allows the transfer of a firearm over the counter by a federal firearms license holder without first performing a NICS check.
Over 20 states accept personal concealed carry permits or licenses as Brady exemptions.
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